With the recent hubbub over Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch, many are wondering if it will threaten the market dominance that Nintendo enjoys with their DS handheld. Even though Forbes thinks Apple has a chance at dethroning the DS, we're realists and know that just isn't possible. But, then the price point for iPhone games was revealed and we got a tad bit worried.Sure, games sell the system, but the titles available on the iPhone and iPod Touch will go for 17-18 Euros (which comes to about $25-$28, less than Nintendo's first-party titles), according to LemonQuest CEO Ignacio Cavero. It's not much, but it's something, and definitely a lot more noticeable when compared to Square Enix games, which often debut at a $34.99 price point. But, we could also see even cheaper stuff, because Apple is leaving the final pricing up to the publishers.
What do you all think? Will price play a big role here? Or, are you waiting on some games before you jump to any conclusions?
[Via CVG]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-06-2008 @ 6:40PM
Steven said...
This is only a rumor until it comes from Steve Jobs. I'd wait til Monday.
Reply
6-06-2008 @ 6:48PM
BlackDS said...
If price was all that mattered, I would have picked up Spiderwick Chronicles last night at 1:30 A.M. PST (MANY hours before DS Fanboy reported it here).
But I didn't ...
Nuff said.
Peace.
Reply
6-06-2008 @ 7:02PM
nil said...
Price is one of the reasons the DS will beat the iPhone. The iPhone is $400 plus a monthly contract. For $400, I could get a DS plus 9 full price games and no monthly fees. Sounds like a much better deal.
Reply
6-06-2008 @ 8:53PM
Peter R. said...
Even without the price factor, the DS has nothing to fear from the Iphone. The Iphone is not gaming device its a smartphone, and anyone with half a brain will see so as well.
6-06-2008 @ 10:54PM
MikeG said...
My thoughts exactly. You have to own an iPhone first. How many people do you know that own one? I don't know any. And I'll be willing to bet the ones who do own iPhones aren't going to care all that much about gaming.
6-07-2008 @ 12:01PM
tevetorbes said...
I own an iPhone and am a gamer and a DS owner.
That said, I will probably buy some games for my iPhone. Will I stop buying games for the DS? Hell no.
Am I excited about the prospect of playing games on my iPhone? You bet. I don't think, however, that people are going to rush out to buy an iPhone to play games on, and I don't think that's what the pundits are suggesting either.
I think that people who own iPhones or are going to buy iPhones are, by and large, at least somewhat interested in playing games. Remember, adults are gamers too! You don't stop wanting to play games simply because you get older and get a job whereby you can afford an iPhone.
6-08-2008 @ 7:58PM
mike said...
? You do know that the iPod touch plays the exact same software/games as the iPhone right? It's the exact same device minus the phone calls. iPod doesn't require any contracts, obviously.
6-06-2008 @ 7:06PM
JfreshInEffect said...
There are a number of factors here.
I live in NY and use TMobile for my cell carrier. So I'm not getting an Iphone anytime soon. And that goes for all the other non AT&T folks as well.
Another big factor is that the Iphone itself is going to have some very real competition very soon. Google android is looking and sounding powerful and open. So Touchscreen WI-FI devices with expandable storage will be ubiquitous. I'm just waiting for one to come out on my carrier and I'm gettin it. This is a real threat to Apple's stakes in the wireless arena.
If HTC,Samsung and LG can keep the prices competitive (I don't think they can), then they can give the Iphone a real challenge. This isn't going to be as easy as Apple's current dominance with the Ipod. Some of the above co's will not stand by and let Apple just come and take their market share without a fight.
The real factor is the games. If big developers make AAA games on the IPhone, than it will become a viable competitor to the DS (and PSP). And anyone who says they can't make a big dent in the casual market is smoking paint.
As far as I'm concerned: all bets are off.
That being said, the DS is the best console out right now, and I cant wait to play Dragon Quest IX or Castlevania, or Final Fantasy IV, or Disgaea, or Bangaioh,or Korg DS-10, or Ifinite Line............Good Luck Apple
Reply
6-06-2008 @ 9:17PM
Peter R. said...
The Iphone won't be making a dent into the gaming market anytime soon, especially not anywhere near the DS level. They are too many marks against the Iphone as a successful gaming device as it is: it has no buttons, you use your fingers for navigation, its a phone, has limited storage space, and its expensive. As far as the games for the Iphone are concerned, big name developers have branched off into phone games before, and very few of those games have been well received. The games that were well liked however all had one thing in common, they used buttons.
6-06-2008 @ 8:42PM
Neo Senku said...
When the iphone gets Pokemon, Mario, Ace Attorney, Various training games and any other cocaine in game form the nintendo puts out, then it will be real threat until then its gaming abilities will probably be that of the n-gages.
Reply
6-06-2008 @ 9:39PM
Kefka said...
One other thing which I think will dampen people's enthusiasm for gaming on the iPhone is the touchscreen interface. Yes, the DS has a touchscreen, but it also has buttons.
Buttons which give you tactile feedback. Buttons which you can mash rapidly, feel when you're clipping the side of, know when you've pressed and aren't worried about pressing too hard...
I simply wouldn't have the confidence to play hard/focus while using touch screen buttons - it's like DDRing on a cheap soft-mat.
That leaves iPhones mainly suitable for games designed for touchscreen/stylus (does it even have a stylus?) use...
But yes, like JfreshInEffect said, it will ultimately come down to if developers are willing to produce AAA games for it. And phones have never had the best track record for that - ngage anyone? I'm predicting a small handful of decent titles, amongst piles of shovelware not even worth the lower price.
Reply
6-07-2008 @ 11:56AM
tevetorbes said...
Nope- no stylus on the iPhone.
In fact, you CAN'T use a stylus on the iPhone even if you wanted to.
You make some great points- I've owned my iPhone since they came out and I still make typing errors enough that they can be bothersome when composing an email or sending a text. I love it, but I kinda wish it had an actual QWERTY keyboard for that tactile feedback.
6-06-2008 @ 11:06PM
tamriel said...
Two words: installed base.
The iPhone just doesn't have the market penetration that the DS enjoys right now with the gamer demography of all strata. Apple will be fighting an uphill battle if it wants to drag gamers to its platform. Sony arguably succeeded, but it was already well entrenched in home console gaming. I don't think that gaming on Apple gadgets will go the way of the NGage, and I do think that its unique interface will allow for the development of a gaming platform that will fare greater success than other mobile phones. However, it's just not there right now and it will come very late to the party.
Even if the games are priced cheaper, the console price discrepancy will not entice people who want a game console to buy an iPhone, in my opinion. Buying an iPhone is a "business decision": you buy that when you need a smartphone, a cell phone that does some other stuff very right. Likewise, the rationale behind buying an iPod is to listen to music and consume it from the iTunes Store: not to play video games. If you do want to play video games, I'd think you'd go to a console that has already a good lot of them and that has a precise and ongoing strategy to bring many others, as well as the support of third party game developers.
Reply
6-06-2008 @ 11:39PM
Roman said...
How many parents are going to buy their kids and iphone?
Kids are a big reason why the DS sells so much.
Pluse, the iphone won't have Pokemon.
Reply
6-07-2008 @ 1:46AM
erik said...
We've seen how the iPhone demolished the hi-fi audio market with its built in speaker and MP3 capabilities. How it wiped out the TV market with its screen and video capabilities. We've all seen paperweight sales plummet... and yet everyone is still a skeptic.
Ridiculous - look at the writing on the wall folks...
Reply
6-07-2008 @ 6:51AM
Lord Bowser said...
Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound.
6-07-2008 @ 3:47AM
radman said...
Also, the story isn't actually true. Developers set their own price points, as Apple itself has said.
Reply
6-07-2008 @ 6:44AM
RupeeClock said...
Yes, the iPhone games WOULD be cheaper because:
1: Software distribution does not require any media like CDs or cartridges
2: No boxes to be packaged, no stores to be sold at
3: Given the nature of the software, they will most likely be small games worth the value of the purchase, much like the DS games themselves.
I don't see how this threatens Nintendo.
Besides, if Apple do go through with this, they'll get tons of people bitching that the games are far more expensive in the UK than they are in America, it's exactly what happened with the iPod games.
Reply
6-07-2008 @ 8:29AM
SephFinale said...
I've seen the article's picture twice, and the first time I saw it, I was wondering, "Is that Windows XP?" Because that start button and task bar at the top of the APPLE iPhone appears to be from MICROSOFT Windows XP. Conspiracy? 'Cause I could care less about cellphone games overthrowing the handheld market.
Reply
6-07-2008 @ 9:51AM
Liquid Soap said...
Shareware games on the internet are also cheaper the DS lite games. In the end its a quality of gaming experience factor.The iphone might end up being fun for casual gaming which is admittedly a rapidly growing market but the hardcore gaming market is expanding too and they probably don't want to play guitar hero on their iphone.
Reply